In order to be affordable, housing should cost no more than 30% of income. This renter index compares what renters should pay (no more than 30% of their household income) to what renters actually do pay (median gross rent).

If the median renter household is spending more than it should, the ratio will be less than one. Data points in blue are above one and data points in red are below one. Increases in the index indicate that housing costs are taking up less of a household’s budget, while decreases indicate that rental costs are consuming a greater share of income.

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Technical information on these charts can be found here.

Source: MHP tabulation of American Community Survey (2001-2007) data.